clock is ticking, times are changing
by clockworksalsa
Summary: Everyone is born with six digits imprinted onto the inside of their left wrist, displaying a time of 24 hours. When a pair is fated to meet, the timer counts down to the moment that they lock eyes. It's all textbook, Hide knows. He's a ghoul investigator, and a romantic, but he's about to learn that life doesn't always go according to plan, and things aren't always as they seem.
1. A Time Bomb

Hide has always loved ghouls.

Well, better said, he's always loved to study them, as a sort of weird hobby. Despite his hyperactivity, he's always been the curious, observant type. Hungry for knowledge. Especially when the subject is social taboo. Most people in Tokyo develop a healthy fear of ghouls as soon as they're able to comprehend their monstrosity. Hide, though—he knew that there had to be more behind the masks. Throughout his childhood, others tended to avoid him due to this morbid fascination, overshadowing his bright personality and kind demeanor. He grew up kind of lonely, but never felt alone in the company of a good book.

After middle school, his parents realized that no, he probably wasn't going to grow out of this, and enrolled him in the Junior Academy, much to his excitement. The school didn't teach him anything he didn't already know, though, not really, and he felt out of place in the sea of people that found the ghouls they studied repulsive and vile. Not that they had a reason to think otherwise, given what the school was geared towards. The only good thing to come out of the Junior Academy was meeting Akira Mado. Hide recognized her name from the news, and figured that if he followed her lead, they'd both end up in high places. From her, he learned firsthand of the terrible personal effects of ghoul predation, the likes of which aren't really captured in textbooks. They quickly became friends, united in their fixation. Another classmate, Seido Takizawa, thought Hide's easy acceptance of second place was reprehensible, and vowed to surpass them both. In other words, they were definitely friends.

The three of them moved on to train at the Academy, and Hide finally learned all that the CCG has to offer about his longtime obsession, although hearing about them in such a clinical and detached way felt almost jarring, so different from the nitty gritty news reports and the enthralling novellas. It was also very intense, both physically, and mentally, and he isn't really allowed to talk about it much more than that. He is allowed to say, however, that he became a damn good Investigator, and graduated salutatorian to Akira's valedictorian. Seido was predictably upset, but the day after graduation he and Akira were holding hands and smiling, so he assumed they kissed and made up. Unfortunately, after that they got split up, with Akira stationed at Headquarters while Hide and Seido, along with Mado-san, her father, left for the 20th Ward. She excelled, much like Hide knew she would. Seido and Hide, on the other hand… they didn't do much personally in the hunt for the Binge-Eater, Jason, and Rabbit—stuck with much of the deskwork like Bureau employees—but Hide wishes they had.

He was the first one to hug Akira at the funeral.

After that, she went off the radar for a while, before popping into the 20th Ward's branch offices, proclaiming Hide himself as her new partner. Both he and Seido were really over the moon to have her back, but her father's death, and something else, made her colder and withdrawn. That is, more so than usual. Still, it was nice to have her back, and they did make a killer team. Most called him a natural talent when it came to investigation, and Akira was more then capable herself, especially when it came to extermination. They were, and are, the exemplary team of the 20th Ward.

Hide likes being a part of the CCG, he knows that he's helping people and putting his natural curiosity and penchant for studying ghoul behavior to good use, but some aspects of his job just don't sit right with him.

Everything begins to make sense during the worst twenty-four hours of Hide's life.

oOo

Hide scratches absently at his wrist as he prepares for bed, making sure that his work uniform is hung up nice and tidy for tomorrow morning, before slipping into his comfortable pajamas. He climbs into bed, the soft sheets like butter, and banishes all thoughts of ghouls and the hellish underbelly of Tokyo for the night. He reaches over to his left to turn off the bedside lamp. An unusual flicker of movement distracts him, though, and his eyes are drawn to his wrist. The skin is obviously prickling now, around the inky black numbers tattooed there. Only, the digits, usually a resolute **24:00:00**, are ticking away the seconds. He stares in disbelief for a few seconds, a feeling of overwhelming fear and delight coursing through him. Hide would meet his soulmate in less than twenty-four hours. Despite being textbook, he honestly can't believe it.

Six numbers are imprinted on every person's left wrist, representing hours, minutes, and seconds. The tattooed numbers grow with a person, set at the default 24:00:00, until the day that they are fated to meet their soulmate. Exactly 24 hours before they meet each other's eyes for the first time, the numbers begin counting down, like clockwork. Even before that, though, the two are instinctively synchronized, and end up developing a couple of similar interests to stimulate their bond. Hide's interested enough in the science of it all, but doesn't dwell on it too much, liking to think that it's more to do with destiny than chemicals. At 23, he is an incredibly late bloomer, with most soulmates meeting as children or teenagers in school. In his younger years, he didn't have many interests outside of reading and ghouls, which naturally alienated him from others. After he joined the Junior Academy, it was easier to find himself, of course, but he still battled the fear that he might be one of the unlucky ones. The system isn't perfect, and some people don't get happy endings, but Hide's always been a romantic. He watches the time pass for a few moments more, before deciding that the faster he goes to sleep, the sooner he will meet his soulmate. As he drifts off, his heart flutters with the thought that somewhere, someone is watching the exact same numbers tick away the seconds.

oOo

Hide is incredibly overwhelmed at work the next day by well-wishes and advice, even by people who haven't so much as spoken to him in the years he's been stationed at the 20th Ward Branch. He'd finished his morning routine in a haze, arriving at work earlier than usual, eager to power through it and meet his soulmate that evening (that evening!). His fellow employees caught on too fast, not that he's ever been one to keep a secret, and Akira noted very dryly that he looked like a lovesick puppy already. She has some sort of grudge against the whole soulmate business, for reasons unknown even to him, her best friend. Unlike Hide, who wears his heart on his sleeve, she's much more restrained with her feelings, but he knows that she's happy for him. Seido, on the other hand, is unabashedly over the moon about the whole thing. He spends nearly the entirety of their uneventful shift—looking over case notes and drawing up reports for the Bureau—badgering Hide about what he hopes she's like.

"I don't really have any expectations," Hide says, grinning dopily at his computer screen. From her adjacent cubicle, he can practically feel Akira roll her eyes. "I think part of the fun is getting to know your soulmate, whoever they are—knowing them better than anyone else. I'm sure I'll love them no matter what."

Akira is definitely rolling her eyes now, but Hide is giddy as the word love leaves his mouth. Is he jumping the gun? Maybe so. Seido eats it up though, slapping Hide on the shoulder. "You are so cute, Hide."

Hide just rubs his wrist over the fabric of his sleeve, then shoos Seido away halfheartedly. "Get back to work, Takizawa."

Precisely five minutes before the end of his and the Mado-squad's shifts—and less than an hour before he would meet the love of his life, according to his steady counter—their team gets a call. Hide has hardly done any work, too distracted by the ticking of the analog clock on the wall opposite his cubicle. Being ghoul investigators, they naturally work late, and getting a call after dark is never a good sign.

Akira answers the phone with a cool, professional "hello", then leans forward on her desk, face screwing up in concentration. Hide eyes her warily, pausing in the middle of turning his computer off and tidying up his files. She waves him over, along with Seido and Houji, and then begins jotting down notes on a scrap piece of paper lying on her desk. Even after years with the CCG, Hide's heart still drops.

Akira hangs up, thanking the caller for their time, and turns to Hide, eyes like steel. She picks up her note pad and reads, "A mutilated body was found in a subway tunnel entrance. The witness contacted the police, and then the CCG hotline just in case. Suspect may be a ghoul and may still be in the area. The Mado Squad is to be deployed for investigation and possible extermination."

Hide sighs and adjusts his tie, nervously straightening his cuffs. The skin of his wrist tingles faintly, and he can't help but grimace. Akira notices, but before she can dismiss him, force him to go home, Hide beats her to it. "I'm coming with you. Maybe this won't take any more than fifteen minutes."

She nods. "Alright. I assume we can handle this fairly quickly. I'll see to it that we're paid overtime. Seido, put out a warning for the area that the body was found in, with a three-mile radius I'd say. Probably just a loner passing through, we can take it out, if it's still in this Ward."

Seido rushes back over to his computer, frantically aborting the shutdown sequence, as Hide and Houji follow Akira to the company garage. They grab keys along the way, Hide ignoring the slowly mounting tension in his body.

oOo

The Mado Squad is first on the scene, beating out the police and ambulance, though by the looks of the mangled body the victim won't be needing the latter. They park on the street as close to the subway tunnel as possible, right up against the curb, and the gore is in clear view out of Hide's passenger-side window. No matter how long he's been in the field, it never gets easier. Hide manages to quell his reaction for the sake of professionalism, but Seido pulls a face as the four of them slip out of the car, briefcases in their grasps. "Wow, that guy's more bone than anything."

"Seido, be respectful," Akira admonishes, and crouches by the victim. It's practically unidentifiable, and Akira merely hovers her hand over the mess. Hide walks around in a tight circle, eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of the perpetrator. He's close enough to hear Akira sigh deeply. "It's still warm. The ghoul must be nearby—keep alert, please."

He tosses Akira a forlorn wallet lying in a pool of blood nearby, wincing at the tacky blood on his fingers. He wipes it on his sleeve without thinking, slowing to brush the faint tingling over his pulse—not the time. "There's ID in there. Cash, too- definitely not a robbery gone wrong, if that was even on the table."

Akira flips it open, and stands, moving under a streetlight to see better. "Right. Let's spread out."

They branch off, fanning out from the body, tense and quiet. This area of town is pretty decrepit, lots of alleyways and broken streetlamps. Hide has to wonder what the vic was doing so far out from the hustle and bustle, but he supposes it hardly matters now. The crime scene is blockaded in by vacant buildings, all with boarded up doors and windows. Unfortunately, that means too many places for a ghoul to hide. Hide's listening hard for any disturbance, squinting in the darkness for any clues, as he tiptoes farther from the rest of his squad, towards a foreboding looking alley. He knows that ghouls can be dreadfully stealthy. If they're hungry enough, though, they won't leave prey like this unattended for long. If he were the ghoul, he would've booked it through the subway tunnels and left the ward entirely. But, his instincts tell him it's just as likely that the ghoul is lurking somewhere just around a corner, waiting to make its move—

Hide jumps ever so slightly as a police car swerves onto their street, screeching to a halt behind their vehicle, casting the area in a red glow. He shakes his head, trying to calm his nerves. He's definitely more on edge tonight, likely due to the fact that his counter is still dutifully ticking away despite the terrible turn his night has taken. The red doesn't help much in terms of visibility—in fact, it makes every shadow seem that much more sinister—and as Hide peers further into the dingy alleyway, the hair on the back of his neck stands up. He catches slight movement between the pulses of red. His thumb jolts to unlatch his briefcase, pulse hammering, but stops short as he hears Seido shout, accompanied by sharp gunfire.

Adrenaline thrums in his veins as he spins to see the man struggling with one of two ghouls near a dumpster where they must have been hiding instead. Two policemen stagger away—when will they learn that regular bullets just make the ghouls angry?—as Hide, along with Akira and Houji, double back to help Seido subdue the two predators. Akira, the closest of the three of them, whips out her brutal, spine-like quinque and knocks one of the ghouls away from Seido. It crumples onto the sidewalk, and Hide rushes in to get the jump on it before it can recover. His quinque snaps into a lethal bikaku dagger that he drives into the incapacitated ghoul's shoulder. He hears, faintly, Houji and Seido battling the other ghoul, over the ringing in his ears as the ghoul slams their foreheads together and snarls at him with revulsion. Bristling, Hide deftly rolls away just as Akira's heavy quinque smashes its head into the pavement.

He shakes his head, both to dispel the concussion and the viscera spattered on his face from Akira absolutely annihilating the thing's skull. "Oh, sorry," she says, very much not sorry about it. Hide just chuckles, makes to grin at her, but catches more movement in the dark just behind Akira's line of sight as she draws back her quinque.

"Akira! Two on your left!" Hide calls, and his partner instantly darts towards him, away from the reaching kagune of the ghouls attempting to snatch her up. Rinkaku. He unfurls his longer, whip-like quinque that's lighter and faster than Akira's Fueguchi, quickly lashing out to keep the ghouls from rushing them. One veers off, but he catches the ankle of the other, pulling his quinque taut to trip it. He subtly sidesteps, dragging the ghoul with him, and Akira adjusts perfectly to intercept the ghoul coming in from the right, shielding itself with its kagune. Its kagune shatter from the force of Akira's swing, and it howls as Hide drives the two ghouls into each other. Akira makes quick work of the pair, cut down effortlessly and efficiently. He and Akira take a breather, surrounded by the carnage.

"How are you doing?" she asks, nodding to Hide's left hand. He looks around furtively, and then rolls up his bloodstained sleeve. His racing heart freezes as he sees mere minutes on his timer. She blinks, and glances at the two policemen cowering by their vehicle. "Do you think—"

"Let's just not worry about it," Hide says, definitely worrying about it—there is no one really around, but he'd hate for a civilian, especially his soulmate, to wander into an active investigation. Especially one way more intense than they'd suspected. "That was a lot of ghouls for one body…"

"Too many," Akira agrees, and finally steps away from Hide to check for Seido and Houji. Houji is leaning against the dumpster, obviously injured, as Seido shakes a disembodied head from his quique. Pleasant. It thumps on the asphalt and they jog over, Hide noting with a turn of his stomach just how many ghouls had crawled out of the woodwork in the space of an hour. It's unusual to say the least. One of the nearby policemen retch. An ambulance pulls to a stop some ways away, but no paramedics leave the vehicle.

"Akira, Hide," Houji grits out, Seido stepping over a body to hoist him up, "an ukaku escaped down that alley, we couldn't catch it. It's probably long gone by now, but-"

"I've got it," Hide affirms, letting his quinque shift into its dagger form. The quicker he gets this over with, the sooner he meets his soulmate. "Just get Houji some medical attention."

"Alright. Radio in whether you find something or not. I'm going to go talk to the police to issue a statement," Akira instructs, and Hide nods, adjusting the communication device in his ear. It got knocked a little loose in the scuffle.

The red lighting still makes the alleyway seem creepier than your average grimy alleyway, but the weird figure he saw (or maybe, like, hallucinated) is no longer there. There's a few overturned boxes, obvious signs of a scuffle. He finds a crumpled body in the back corner, prone and lifeless. It's a ghoul, probably got into some territorial fight with those others, and Hide surmises that there's no reason to think that anything is still hanging around. Something red does catch his eye, though, and he kneels to get a better look. It's like a shard of red glass, almost glowing in the darkness, and he slices his finger on it trying to touch it, like a papercut. It's kagune, but still almost living, recent. Something thwips just past his cheek. "Ah."

Hide brings his hand up to radio for Akira, other hand gripping his briefcase, when he feels a stabbing pain in his shoulder. With a snap, his quinque flares out of his briefcase, and he swings the long appendage around to block the ghoul behind him from making another attack. It's the ukaku, and it's bulletlike spines flicker in the darkness. He feels confident, what with the small army they just took down earlier, until he registers the rabbit mask staring back at him. Hide stands stock-still for just a fraction of a second, glaring at the soulless expression on the ghoul's mask. She tenses, just slightly, but it's enough of a warning that Hide can react in time to keep from being impaled further. He dives forward, brandishing his quinque, trying to close the distance between them and prevent the ghoul from using her impressive range of attack against him. He knows he can't take Rabbit alone, but if he can radio his squad, he just needs to stay alive—

The ghoul spins, sending a barrage of spines his way. They just barely graze his skin, but it stings like hell, and the one still making its home in his shoulder is proving to be really fucking inconvenient. Hide has to abort his assault to duck and roll, back further into the darkness of the alley. He's being cornered, and worn down, toyed with, he knows it, but all he needs is a second to press the comm button. He quickly switches his quinque to its smaller dagger form, spinning to face his opponent, but… it's gone. The only trace of Rabbit is sticking up out of the pavement, red and pulsing. Hide feels himself start to tremble, and he catches his breath. God, what was Rabbit doing at some smalltime crime scene? The last time the ghoul had been spotted, an incredible Investigator had died. God, he almost died. This is why Investigators use the damn buddy system.

His in-ear communicator crackles, and he hears Akira say, "All clear over here. We're going to head back soon." Hide has a split second to decide whether to mention Rabbit to his partner knowing that she would probably lose her head.

"Definitely an ukaku ghoul, escaped. Can't pursue. Otherwise, all clear," he mumbles into the air, pressing and releasing the small button with shaking fingers. Not a lie, just... not the whole truth. He'd spare Akira all the gory details for now.

"Roger. Cleanup will be here in 5."

Hide leans up against the cool brick wall when a twinge of pain shoots down his arm. Ah, right. He reaches back and pulls the red spine out of his shoulder blade, slick with blood. He's dealt with worse, but he tries to keep the right side of his body still to avoid aggravating the wound til the paramedics can bandage him up. He's got some shallow scratches too, but those are less of a bother. With a sigh, he tosses the spine into the darkness and fusses with the bloodstains on his pristine white shirtsleeve, rolling them up. At least he left his suit jacket in—

His mouth dries up like the desert when he sees that he has less than five minutes remaining on his timer. Time freezes, and he goes lightheaded, from more than just his injuries, until a body slams into his side in a sort of messy tackle, sending them both to the dirty concrete. Instinctually, Hide uses the momentum to throw his attacker off, rolling further into the dark. He can hardly see, and his pulse thrums in his ears, matching, he's sure, the ticking seconds on his wrist. Luckily, he still has hold of his quinque. Guess that body in the corner wasn't as dead as he thought.

"You killed them!" A voice shrieks at him, making him jump. It comes from ahead of him, and he makes out two red irises as a ghoul limps towards him from where it was thrown, still mostly hidden by the darkness. Hide blinks, shrugging off the ache of his earlier fall and twinging shoulder, and readies his weapon. Adrenaline makes it easy to focus on staying alive.

The terrible, taut hurt in the ghoul's voice gives him pause, though, and his curiosity gets the better of him, as always. "Who?"

"We were just supposed to be passing through…" it wails, oblivious to his question in its distress. And Hide, stupidly, waits long enough for it to strike, taken aback by how awfully human it sounds. Ungracefully, and with a noise that's a cross between a shout and a gasp, Hide shoves the ghoul back, bringing the knife up to slash at his chest. In his momentary lapse, the ghoul had managed to compose himself—itself—enough to intercept the strike, knocking the dagger out of Hide's fingers deftly. The tingling sensation on his left wrist goes woefully unnoticed as he wrestles with the bloodthirsty ghoul, all trace of sympathy gone. The pair drift further down the alley, nearly up to the wooden slats of the backing fence, plunging deeper into darkness. Hide operates by instinct alone, hoping to get one hand free enough to call for backup. His opponent is weak from its earlier tussle with Rabbit, he assumes, but not enough to make it a fair fight between the two.

Without warning, the ghoul is wrenched from Hide's hands, and he watches with mouth agape as it is slammed against the opposing wall by another attacker. Like lightening, he presses his communication button, and holds it, intending to rattle off a quick S.O.S. There's no crackle of static at all, god, it must be fucking busted, and Hide scrambles to his feet as he realizes he's totally on his own. He has to find his quinque. By now, his eyes have adjusted enough to make out the new figure, whose white hair nearly glows in the low light.

Oh god, oh fuck.

He doesn't even breathe as Eyepatch crushes the other sobbing ghoul into the bricks with a single sinuous kagune. He unzips the snarling teeth of his mask. Hide expects a growling threat, or perhaps even for the ghoul to tear the other's throat out in front of him, but the voice that comes from the fearsome ghoul is startlingly soft and convicting. "I think my associate made it perfectly clear you were to not engage the CCG further."

The ghoul can do nothing but choke and flail as Eyepatch literally squeezes the life out of him, kagune like a terrible boa constrictor. Hide, snapping out of his trance, as quietly as possible, begins to root around in the low light for a weapon, any weapon. Or should he run? Could he run? Amon always says Investigators, even the best of the best, tend to die young. Maybe there is nothing he can do, he thinks, his blood ice in his veins. His panic only doubles as his hands meet nothing but pavement.

"And you—" Before Hide can even blink, one of the ghoul's four tentacles wraps around his ankle, hosting him up into the air. "You aren't going anywhere."

Eyepatch releases the body of the now silent, but panting ghoul, body falling in a heap, turning to face Hide as he tries and fails to catch his own breath. It's hard to see in the darkness, but Hide scans up the dark leather body suit with mounting fear until he reaches the gruesome mask of teeth, open to reveal a frown. No. All investigators know the dangers of the job—he won't die a coward. He finally musters up the courage to look his attacker, this ghoul, in the eye, just as the persistent twinge in his wrist suddenly stops. The whole world suddenly stops. Nothing exists beyond the two of them, and Hide, inexplicably, unreasonably, is no longer afraid. The single eye visible from behind the leather mask widens, almost comically, and Hide can barely make out a tiny gasp, too quiet and fragile to belong to such a feared and dangerous ghoul. The adrenaline is numbing his pain, and the blood rushing to his head certainly isn't helping his clarity, but nothing can soothe the aching, swirling, confused pounding of his head and heart.

Eyepatch tears his searching, frantic eye away from Hide's face, briefly darting to his left wrist, before dropping him unceremoniously on his head. The drop shocks him more than hurts him, but he lays frozen on the dirty concrete. Eyepatch, instead of gutting him while he's down, turns to the shaken ghoul on the alley floor, as if Hide isn't there. As if what just happened, miraculously didn't. Hide, shocked and frozen, can do nothing but cradle his head and listen. "You know hunting in the 20th Ward is off-limits. There's a new gang in the area and the doves are on high alert, what were you thinking?"

His voice, so soft, but still sharp, sends a chill down Hide's spine, for more reason than one. With his uptick in head injuries, he's surprised he's thinking at all, but squashes any traitorous ideas that it sounds nice, even.

The other ghoul's face is scrunched up in pain and sadness, and the guilt comes creeping back into Hide's mind, even as he wrestles with his own impossible circumstance. Though he's been nothing but a faithful Investigator, a successful Investigator, he can't help but pity ghouls, even though this one was trying to kill him not 10 minutes ago. It's a weakness that should have been stamped out years ago, after seeing again and again the cruelty, the brutality, of these gruesome predators.

And now, this weakness, his long-hidden almost fondness for ghouls, his sympathy for their suffering—however necessary to keep the people of Tokyo safe—has landed him in some seriously hot water. Broiling even.

Deadly.

"W-we were hungry…" the ghoul whimpers, clutching his bruised throat, and Eyepatch nods his head to the wooden fence with a begrudging sigh.

"Go. We'll deal with this later." The other ghoul hastily obeys, scrambling over the fence, leaving Hide and Eyepatch to deal with… each other.

When Eyepatch turns once more to look at him, there is an age-old sadness in his eye that shocks Hide, along with it being a steely, somber grey. He watches with rapt attention as the ghoul's kagune fizzle into nothing. He opens his mouth, and Hide half expects his lips to pull into the same sadistic grin that his mask depicts, but the ghoul falters, words seeming to fail him. Hide is assaulted by a barrage of different feelings, some of which he knows for certain can't be his own, and he shudders. Now that their moment has passed, reality has taken hold of him once more. This isn't right. This can't be right. He feels fear thrumming in his veins, fear that belongs to them both. Hide, albeit shaky, stands and supports himself on the wall, and they just... look at each other. Size each other up. Waiting for the other to do something, say something. Neither of them have any clue how to proceed.

Hide finds that they won't have to, as Akira's quinque goes whipping just by his head, striking the ground where Eyepatch stood a millisecond prior. The ghoul now scales the wall with terrifying grace as Akira readies another strike, but Hide unthinkingly brings up a trembling hand to stop her. Eyepatch slips over the lip of the building and disappears.

"Hide, what—" Her eyes are blazing with fury and hate, posture rigid, until Hide collapses into her. She drops her quinque to hold him steady. "Oh my god, you called in 10 minutes ago, we figured you found something but when you didn't respond to us, we thought… What… what happened?"

Hide shakes his head, absolutely rendered mute by the whole encounter. He can't force himself to explain, not understanding it fully himself. Instead, he allows himself a brief respite in his friend's arms, cursing the backward state of the world he's forced to live in. This isn't fair. This isn't textbook. In a haze, he's escorted to an ambulance and treated for his various bumps and bruises, and mercifully, no one, not even Seido, asks about his zeroed timer.


	2. Open Hearts and Open Wounds

**AN: thanks for your support, y'all, I really do appreciate it!**

** IntensityWire: I'm sorry you aren't liking this one as well! :( Present tense just feels more alive to me, and is better suited for action imo, but the old fic definitely has its merits!**

**knightessjg: Thank you! The old one is still near and dear to my heart!**

**Savirox: Aha thanks! I feel like TT was too rushed, ao I slowed down my pace a bit and really tried to expand the story!**

**nantia12: Thank you! Hope it's worth the wait uwu**

Hide's never been a mopey person. He's pure, unbridled sunshine personified, so his friends say. Even in his sadness he pushes through, not one to get bogged down in the weeds of things. Last night, though. Last night was hell.

As soon as their squad returned to base on the night of his timer zeroing, Akira and Hide reported that Eyepatch had been seen in the area, of course, for the safety of the 20th Ward and to set the branch on high alert just in case he decided to stay. It had been relatively quiet in the ward up until then, save for a few scattered bands of ghouls passing through. Easy enough to deal with, of course, but still it warrants a bit of caution. Like Eyepatch had said, there's been an unusual increase in cooperation among ghouls. After Hide and Akira got everyone up to speed, most agreed that ghours merely finally figured out that there is strength in numbers. The night though, was an anomaly for sure, and with it Hide felt a strong sense of foreboding building in the ward office. Akira suggested that a case be opened just in case, to keep tabs on this gang activity. It had been done, they clocked out, and went home. His squad members shot him looks the whole time. What was he supposed to say? What could he say? He remained unusually quiet, got home, passed out in his bloody clothes.

And now, he's awake again, totally unready to face the day. He's also usually a morning person. But today, he lingers in bed for as long as humanly possible. Hide gets this bad feeling that something is brewing in Tokyo, and they're headed for sure disaster. And that's not his own new pessimistic lease on life talking; he'd like to say it's his fine-tuned investigation training, a gut instinct. But. If he's being honest, it might just actually be the pessimism, and he's blowing things out of proportion. Finally, the crustiness of the dried blood on his oxford shirt and skin propels him to take a shower and change his bandaging, even though his remaining wounds are mild at best. In fact, he doesn't physically feel awful at all, which is a miracle he should be grateful for, after fighting off like half a dozen ghouls yesterday, but if anything that just makes him more sullen. He can't even get beat up like a proper investigator? Is he so strange and pathetic that ghouls are going easy on him now? He stands under the spray until the water goes cold, wallowing in misery.

He ends up 5 minutes late for work, something Akira hones in on right away. She doesn't even let him finish doctoring his shitty cup of office coffee (and why, why does it seem so, so shitty this morning?) before she's badgering him about how he feels. If Akira's trying to be touchy-feely, he must look awful. He does his best to brush her off, even if it hurts him, and wanders over to his desk.

There isn't a lot to do, but Hide stretches it out with his overwhelming desire to not do anything, making even the most mundane of tasks take an hour. It's a talent. Everyone else but his squad seems to take the hint and leave him alone, which depresses him as much as it relieves him. They weren't there last night, so they don't know the specifics, but he figures they must reason he and his soulmate didn't work out, and won't work out, and it's devastating that it's just that goddamn obvious.

His heart twinges, and it feels twofold, somehow.

The mental admission of it, that his love life is officially over, dead and gone, has him rapidly blinking to keep from crying, and wow he is so much more torn up about this than he thought he was. It's like quicksand—the more he struggles against it, the more it tries to drag him under. It's a losing battle.

Akira notices, but stays stony as ever, especially after being ignored once. She leaves to get a refill on her coffee instead, avoiding Hide. His partner has probably come to her own conclusion, the true conclusion, and has left him to suffer with his brokenness. That's what it has to be, right? The universe decided, for whatever reason, that he didn't deserve a proper soulmate, and gave him a monster instead.

Seido, in his overwhelming obliviousness, continues to pester Hide with endless questions. He figures that Hide didn't call in because he was off running around with his soulmate, too busy making out to respond. Hide, for the most part, ignores him. It's a better answer than he can give, and if Seido starts spreading that rumor, the easier it'll be to hide the truth, at the expense of his reputation. Compared with the alternative, though—that he is a CCG Rank 1 Ghoul Investigator with a ghoul for a soulmate—the consequences of the white lie seem laughable.

"Is she tall? I feel like you'd prefer a tall lady, Hide." Seido waggles his eyebrows from across the cubicle divider, before making his way over to Hide's side. Hide huffs and bends further over the papers on his desk. He hasn't yet filled out any of them and is honestly considering bribing a Bureau Investigator to do it for him. He's never liked the formal stuff, and as unmotivated as he's feeling today, the task seems nearly impossible. Seido looks imploringly at Hide, and he merely shakes his head. His stomach feels like it's tied up in knots.

"She probably has to be tough, to counter your personality, too. You're super nice." Seido muses. He leans over Hide as he tries and fails to work, dying a little more inside. "Was the kiss good? I hear it's like, amazing."

"Buzz off." He snaps. After a pair of soulmates kiss, their anniversary is imprinted on their wrist where their six-digit timer used to be, replacing the zeroes. From then on, their connection is cemented, deepened, and undeniable, the date a constant reminder of the day they met. Hide will never know what that's like, how it feels, how it happens, even. He doesn't mean to be snippy, but he's upset, and frustrated. Seido wilts, and Akira finally stops at his desk too, looking ready to tell them off for not working. It's shaping up to be a real crowd over here.

"That's really none of your business, is it?" she deadpans, forcibly turning her boyfriend away from her partner. Hide thanks her with his eyes, finding, not the iciness he expects, but sympathy. It's not a good look on her, and it makes Hide feel a little worse about the whole thing if he's being honest. He hates this gaping-hole feeling in his chest. He's really not deserving of any pity, he thinks. He reaches to his left to grab a pen, committing to this damn paperwork, but starts when he felt a hand pull his own farther than he intended to go.

Seido quickly flips Hide's arm and pushes up his sleeve, causing a shock of panic to zip down his spine. Before he can jerk his arm out of Seido's grasp, Seido sees, and he's voice trails off into silence. "I've always been... curious…"

Hide snatches his arm back, away from Seido's invasive stare, his silent judgment, covering the zeros still embarrassingly imprinted there. Timers are personal, not usually to this extent. Bonded pairs show off their marks like it's nothing, but it's not like taboo to see them otherwise. This, though, this is different. He feels like a failure, like a mistake. The zeroes are anomalous. He waits for the silence to break, for Seido to laugh or Akira to scoff or, or something. Hide feels his cheeks burn. Akira snaps out of her stunned stupor first, and smacks Seido upside the head.

"Rude." she bites, and comes around to stand behind Hide, quickly taking up Seido's space so that he's forced to retreat back to his desk. She rubs one of Hide's shoulders tentatively, awkwardly, in her way of assurance. Some other people in the office look over with curiosity, but Akira's glare staves them off, for the most part. She steps aside, and gestures with one hand. "Come with me."

They leave Seido, gingerly feeling the back of his head, and walk to an empty hallway just off of the offices. It's nice and open, polished metal and glass, but still secluded enough to have a private conversation. Akira moves to lean against one wall, looking uncomfortable. Hide follows suit, more at ease with his partner than any other Investigator by far. Still, the tension between them is palpable. She saw, clearly, that only he and Eyepatch were in that alley, and that Hide, a wounded, fallen Investigator, had been somehow left alive. She has to know. Maybe she's going to fire him, quietly, mercifully.

She keeps her eyes trained on the opposite wall. "I'm sorry, Hide."

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault." Hide shrugs, nudging her with his shoulder. He's surprised she isn't angry, or upset. But then again, she is the office ice queen. It can be hard to get a read on her at the best of times. Hide sags against the wall. "I just don't know what to do."

"I wouldn't either," she mumbles. "Sometimes this whole soulmate business feels like a huge joke." They stay like that, for a moment, and Hide feels a strange solidarity between them. She never talks about her soulmate, not even with Seido, really, her boyfriend. All he knows is that they aren't actually matched to each other. He just assumed that though both of their counters are full, they're dating anyways.

Before he can ask, she sighs, and holds up her left arm between them. She rolls up her own sleeve, slowly, carefully, and Hide has to take a second to process what he sees. Her timer is all zeroed out, like his, but faded. Like an old tattoo, or smudged pencil. He meets her eyes, and they are more emotive than he'd seen in a long while, with a swirl of pent-up feelings.

"What…?" He can't seem to put his question into words, but she understands anyway. Her sleeve falls back into place as she lets her arm drop. She stares at him, and her expression hardens.

"Amon is my soulmate." she begins sullenly, and Hide raises his eyebrows.

"But, you two are so…" There isn't really a single word to concisely describe their relationship. He knows Amon was partnered with Mado-san for a time, while Akira remained at headquarters. Hide was Rank 2 at the time, and didn't do anything close to their level.

He'd assumed that Akira and Amon were close because of how well Mado-san treated him—they all did, really, at this branch, they assumed that they were at the very least friends—but when she transferred to the 20th Ward, all employees were shocked by how poorly they got along.

She was originally assigned Amon as a mentor, but in the space of 48 hours she'd demanded a new partner, and the Akira-Hide dream team was formed. The office gossip was that any hard feelings were probably just due to her father's recent death, and that she would warm up to Amon in time. Even now, though, their relationship is purely business, cold if not borderline hostile.

Now, though, Hide stares at Akira with astonishment. All this time, Amon has been her soulmate, and yet, they can't stand each other. It's unprecedented, unheard of. He's figured by now that not every soulmate pair is perfect, but to be so poorly matched—suddenly, Akira's sympathy makes too much sense.

"I know. He hates himself for wanting to be with me, and I hate him for making me suffer like that. Soulmates can faintly feel what the other is feeling, and… well. We were fated to be together..." Akira shifts closer to Hide. Their shoulders brush. There's a definite measure of sadness hidden in her muted anger. He wonders if Amon can feel it, even now, or if he's gotten really good at blocking out her feelings. Or, if it's the other way around—maybe Akira shuts him out on purpose.

"Before I worked here, at this branch, he fell in love with another woman. They weren't soulmates, but they definitely wished that they were. Well, I'm not sure how she felt. I never met her. But he made it very clear to me that he loved her, and only her."

Akira sounds beyond bitter, and Hide can't blame her. It isn't exactky unusual to pursue relationships prior to meeting your soulmate—hell, Seido's timer is full, and yet he thinks Akira hangs the stars. Their love is unquestionable, but to choose that over a soulmate bond is ridiculous to someone like Hide, who had been raised on the idea of having only one true love. Of course, he's learning now that maybe even soulmate relationships don't pan out in the end.

Akira breaks their eye contact, scrunching her eyebrows together. She tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear, and continues. "Anyways. She died, way before Amom and I met, but he never got over her. So when his mark began counting down, he made sure to avoid the eyes of every person that day."

"He didn't want a soulmate that wasn't her." She laughs, but there's no humor in it. "I, on the other hand, couldn't wait. I'd always been… closed off. It's hard for me to connect to people, you know? I wanted someone to finally understand me. Amon walked into the room, and I could just tell. Just seeing him, I don't know. It was so comforting, especially after losing my father. And of course it was Amon, the way father talked about him made him sound so amazing. I was ecstatic. But... he refused to look anywhere but down at his own hands, and I stormed over there… you can imagine."

Hide can. Akira is quite frightening when she wants to be, a very powerful woman. His heart aches for her.

"We both felt it, when our eyes met. That… spark. But then, I could see this wall come down, and he didn't speak to me for the rest of the day. I felt like he tore out my heart. He must have felt that too, but he'd made up his mind a long time ago. Gave all the love that he had to that other woman. I gave him only one day of mine." Akira paces forward, clasping her hands behind her back, and turns to face him.

"I asked for another partner, stopped talking to him, stopped thinking about him. Even though you weren't a senior investigator yet, I got partnered to you, which is probably one of the best things to ever happen to me. You were a big part of me being able to move on." She finally smiles, small, but genuine. "You get me. And even though I don't show it, you really are my best friend."

Hide can't help but smile back, and some of the immeasurable weight leaves his shoulders. So she isn't abandoning him. He was there for her when she needed him, and now she's returning the favor. She rolls her eyes, as if to say, of course. "Sometimes, when I get really drunk, I still try and kiss him. It's that bond, pulling me in. But... both of our marks are greying. Pretty soon, I think there won't be anything left. It's hard to feel his emotions, too. Moral of the story is, I guess fate can make mistakes sometimes. And it's not anybody's fault, not really."

"Thank you, Akira." Hide reaches out a hand, and she grasps it firmly, like a handshake. He snorts, and she laughs, once. Even her affection is business-like. "Just so you know, you're my best friend too."

"Oh, I know," she says, matter of fact, then uses their joined hands to pull him into a short and only semi-awkward hug. He appreciates it nonetheless. "No matter what you decide to do, I'm here for you, okay, Hide?"

Hide pulls back a little. "What do you mean, what I decide to do? What choice do I have? It's not like… well, it wouldn't be right, would it?"

Akira suddenly straightens up, like she'd been shocked, gripping his shoulders, and the fire is back in her eyes. "Hide. The last thing I want is for you to end up like me. You're so wonderful. I'd hate to see how you'd change as the days wear on, as you get lonelier and lonelier. You deserve to be happy. I can't fathom why or how you've ended up with… with him, but… you deserve to be happy. That's all."

And Hide, despite himself…

He begins to hope.

oOo

Hide manages to get through a whole week of work without too much incident. If people notice that he's bounced back, they don't comment. Maybe he wasn't in as much of a funk as he thought. Nothing much changes, in fact, even though Hide's made it official in his mind. His soulmate is a ghoul. He's an investigator. This is a problem, but he's going to deal with it.

Somehow.

Though the solution evades him, there's no complaint from the other side of his connection, however faint it may be from the lack of the finalizing kiss. The only prompting at all he's really gotten from it, actually, is to stop drinking the garbage work coffee, which he has. He's always known that it's terrible, but seriously, it's been nearly impossible to drink lately. He thanks his lucky stars that that's the only unusual craving he has. And that's not helping matters, so he switches mental gears.

Hide doesn't live far from his work, so he usually goes by foot or by bike. The fall weather isn't unpleasant yet, so he's taking his time to enjoy the walk home. He's been distracted lately, even before this whole soulmate debacle. Not that he didn't respect Mado-san and his dedication to the CCG, but Hide's become too much like him in a way, one of those investigators that completely lose themselves in their work. It's nice to slow down. Stop and smell the roses. Do some self-reflection. He used to do photography, and he's thinking maybe he should take it up again.

Hide's reserved the weekend to do some serious soul searching, for his own benefit. Maybe he'll go back through his old ghoul psychology books, dust off his shelves. He used to be obsessed with that kind of thing, before he figured out that the science of it all doesn't matter at all when the end result is always the same. They find a ghoul, they exterminate it, they move on. It's all too clinical for his tastes; Hide theorized that there had to be a better way before the Academy stamped it out of him.

Maybe this... whole thing... is a sign that he was onto something after all, then.

It takes him at least 10 minutes of looking up at the way the light of the setting sun filters through the leaves to figure out that his feet are most certainly not taking him home. He blinks, rapidly looking left and right to try and figure out where exactly he is. Well, this sucks. Making a left, driven by some kind of instinct alone, he sees that the street he's on is, in fact, a good deal from where he usually roams. There are a few people out he can ask for directions to get back to somewhere more familiar in the ward, but his curiosity wins out, and he waits to see where his journey has gone.

It looks like he's in a quaint shopping district, all small, independently owned businesses and stores. It's cute, he thinks, and interesting. He might've been through here once or twice on business, but never really took it in at all. It's like it's coming to life, as the sun sets, all soft lights and faint music. With an almost intense familiarity, he glances in various windows and through doors, not quite knowing what he's looking for.

Hide eventually slows and stops in front of a small coffee shop. He pushes open the door, even though they have to be closing soon, and is met with the most heavenly smell. Even more than that, it feels almost homey, with rich, muted lighting and small tables. There are still a few patrons inside that don't pay him much attention, though one or two squints at his suit and briefcase with some well-hidden distaste.

He slides into an unoccupied chair and simply sits. He tries to be diminutive, almost feeling like an intruder, but... some sort of nostalgia rises in him, though he's never been here before, he's sure. It's so strange, but not unwelcome, and it slowly soothes any unease he has about this situation.

A waitress startles him out of his imagined reverie. "I'm sorry, sir, but we're closing soon. We aren't brewing any more coffee for tonight."

Hide looks up at her, and finds her oddly familiar as well. "Oh, that's no problem. I just, uh. Wanted to sit for a moment."

She blinks, and her eyes narrow, just a fraction. "Alright. Well, our hours are typically 6 AM to 8 PM. Feel free to come back sometime then."

Hide gets it. She wants him out of there, and he feels that the welcome extension is rather forced, if not entirely sarcastic. Whatever. He isn't here to make waves, not that he knows, at all, why he's there. He also elects not to comment on the fact that he can clearly tell that the other patrons had just been served fresh coffee. He rises, straightens his tie, and smiles at her as he makes his way back to the door. His mind is racing, but he wills himself to be at peace, because, again, he's not trying to start something.

He can see through the window that she immediately books it to the back, where she shrugs at someone just out of his line of sight. Hide resolves to come back when she isn't working, maybe. He would really like to try a cup of their coffee.

Anteiku. He makes sure to keep it in mind, and commits the path home to memory for future reference.

oOo

Hide doesn't go back to the coffee shop that weekend. In fact, he spends much of it holed up in his apartment, wearing his comfiest and rattiest pajamas, just reading. Well, he breaks out his old camera, too, unsure of its ability to function, but he leaves it out on the counter to deal with later. He honestly forgot how much he enjoyed books. Before he goes back to work on Monday, he orders a few new ghoul-focused books online, eager to see how the field has evolved since he last checked. Out of simple curiosity, too, he adds an older fiction novel to his basket, featured on the homepage. Apparently it's horror week, or something, and this is a classic. Not that Hide needs more horror in his life, but something about the book seems too alluring to pass up.

That done, he heads out for what he assumes is a quiet day at the office.

As it seems to be his new normal, life decides to give him the middle finger.

Seido and Akira are way too quiet when he arrives at his desk, sans his office coffee. He eyes them both suspiciously, but sits at his computer, starting it up to see if any developments arose over the weekend. He's thankful that the 20th Ward is probably the least ghoul infested ward in Tokyo, or, at least, it's the quietest, which makes his job relatively easy.

He had Akira had gone about opening a new case with the idea of the uptick in gangs of ghouls, but it hasn't gone anywhere yet. The ward mostly gets stragglers and the like. The Eyepatch fiasco was an anomaly, surely. He catches Seido staring at him. "Hey, how was your weekend?"

Seido flushes. "Oh. It was okay." Hide waits, raising an eyebrow. Seido definitely looks like he has more to say, but he doesn't go on, so Hide shrugs and makes sure his paperwork from Friday's in order. He rushed through a good deal of it.

Everything's fine until Akira gets pulled away from her desk by a frantic coworker, sending alarm bells ringing in the back of Hide's mind. He would get up and follow if Seido didn't catch his attention.

"Hey man," he stage whispers, and Hide tears his eyes away from Akira as she leaves the main office, likely to see the higherups. "Akira's still mad at me for Friday. Can you tell her we're cool so she gets off my back?"

Hide snorts. "Are you sure she just isn't busy? Or distracted? Sometimes it's hard to tell with her. I've seen her mad, and that, my friend, is not it."

"Oh no, she's mad. She told me to apologize, and got really heated about the whole thing. She's always been sensitive about soulmate stuff, but this is crazy, right?"

"Oh," Hide sighs, and remembers their very revealing conversation. "Huh. Well, I'll tell her you're sorry, see if that helps."

"Thanks, Hide," he says, just as Akira comes sweeping back into the room. Her features are set in a grim expression, and with a sinking feeling he recognizes it as her battle-face. He doesn't even notice that Seido never really apologized at all.

"We've got an update in our case, Hide," she says, almost breathless, and points at Seido. "Go get Houji and get a car ready."

Hide and Seido stand abruptly, the latter running off to obey her order without further question. "An update?"

She nods, pulling a folder from under her arm. "Firstly, the Bureau Investigators compiled data from the last few years and found some compelling evidence that supports our theory. Signs point to underground gang activity, centered in this ward, all starting after the takedown of some prominent solo figures. That probably scared the ghouls in the area into working together. Even some data cross-referenced from other wards confirm that isolated attacks are on the decline. So, that's the good news."

"And, the bad news?" Hide asks, timidly, taking the folder and following her to the company garage.

"We're deploying right now to intervene in a possible clashing between two of those gangs, meaning that things are going to get ugly."

oOo

When they arrive on the scene, the police have already evacuated and blocked off much of the area. They make sure to stay out of sight of the still-warring ghouls. Thankfully, no humans were caught up in the initial conflict, likely due to the fact that it stemmed from ghoul-ghoul territorialism, rather than from hunting issues. There are a few bodies lying prone on the pavement that Hide can see from a distance as they exit the car, though, so casualties aren't off the table. They're dealing with something big here. Amon and his squad are already hunkered behind a nearby building a few blocks away, so they join up with them to strategize. They've been assigned to this case as well, looks like.

Akira addresses Amon with her usual neutrality. "Any confirmed identities?"

He's setting out some tactical armor, though it isn't clear if the CCG wants them going all out just yet. "There seems to be several ghouls wearing similar cloaks of some kind, facing off against who we believe is Gourmet. Apparently, they haven't been at this for long, but Gourmet and his… associate, who has yet to be seen, have managed to take down quite a bit of the other 'gang's' forces." He finally looks up at her, and almost begrudgingly says, "it was a good call opening this case. Seems there's some merit to it."

Akira nods, once, sharp and cursory. "Hideyoshi, Seido, Houji. Sounds like we need to proceed with caution. Are we waiting for them to tire each other out, or…?"

"Probably," Amon sighs, and beckons over the members from his team. "Orders are to not intervene unless necessary. If they move, we move. Otherwise, we observe. Maybe we'll learn something. They're pretty much exterminating each other at this point."

Hide, as he's next to Seido, catches the whisper that Amon likely doesn't. "And be sitting ducks? Alright…"

Hide rolls his eyes, and moves to lean against a wall. If he leans to the right, he can see around the corner where what definitely looks like Gourmet, flashy suit and all, is severely thrashing some ghoul in a dark, hooded cloak. "Might as well get comfortable then. There's nothing much to do."

Seido moves to join him, and Houji and Akira drift to double check the equipment set out by the other squad. "I don't get why they needed to send Amon out with us for a simple recon mission."

"There's more safety in numbers, Seido," Hide shrugs. Seido isn't normally this vocal about his complaints, not one to question orders. Judging by the way he's shifting uneasily from foot to foot, and how his eyes keep drifting to Akira, he's still upset about the Friday thing. Great. "This whole thing is really unprecedented. We've got powerful ghouls facing off in our ward, you don't think that warrants some caution?"

Seido mumbles, "I don't know. Maybe we should just get out there and take them down while they're distracted, then. Take them out of the picture. What if we just watch as they escape? That means we've got an S rank at the very least loose in our ward, no telling what those other ghouls are rated."

"You're awfully confident today, Seido," Hide says, trying for a teasing tone, but Seido just huffs and looks away. Tough crowd. "Listen, if it comes to a fight, you know I've got your back, okay? We'll get them before they get away."

That seems to make Seido feel a bit better. "Alright, Hide. Thanks."

Akira jogs over to them, hand at her ear. She's likely patched into Headquarters by now, with the way things are shaping up. "Looks like it's just Gourmet and one other unidentified ghoul. He's decimated whatever gang decided to challenge him. It's odd, to say the least. Gourmet wasn't pinned to be active in this ward, but he certainly feels territorial enough to defend it. We've got orders to intervene if the fight winds down."

Seido joins Houji closer to the rear, trailed by Amon's squad, while the senior investigators take the lead. It's times like these Hide wishes Akira wasn't promoted to 1st class unusually early. As her partner, where she goes, he goes. They creep up along the sidewalk, keeping eyes on the two ghouls battling in the distance.

Gourmet is mostly standing his ground while the other ghoul darts around him, attempting to get past that large, spiraling kagune of his and failing. Occasionally, though, Gourmet will lash out and send the other flying. Amon signals for the others to hang back as he, Akira, and Hide form the front line, setting up with three rinkaku-based shields.

Akira sighs as they watch the two ghouls continue to spar, unnoticing or uncaring of their presence. "I've got a really bad feeling about all of this, you know?"

Hide assumes that she's talking to her, especially since Amon makes no indication that he's even heard, eyes trained resolutely forward. "I get it. Something big is going down for sure."

"We need to update the public… let them know that ghouls are on the move. That they're up to something."

Amon finally interjects, glancing past Hide to his partner. "We don't even know the scope of this yet. Why needlessly alarm the public?"

"Because it directly impacts public safety, regardless of the scope. It's at least happening in our ward, under our noses. I'd rather take the fallout for a false alarm than for failing to minimize causalities." To an untrained ear, Akira is civil, but Hide is an expert at gauging her moods, and she's definitely tense, if not outright 're so absorbed in each other, albeit unconsciously, that only Hide notices what's happened until too late, when Gourmet sends his prone opponent careening into their shields. The three of them stagger back, but hold their line. Amon calls for the investigators behind them to prepare for an assault. Akira nudges the ghoul's body with her foot. It's unresponsive.

"Beninteso! Must you insert yourselves into all of our private affairs?" Gourmet gestures to them, arms spread wide. Of all the ghouls he's heard of, this one is the most well-spoken, and almost catty with his prey. He's also very, very picky. Luckily for them, he seems at least a little worn down from battling so many other ghouls. Maybe they'd get an easy win for once.

Like clockwork, though, a huge wrench gets tossed into Hide's plan to follow orders, be a good solider, keep their defenses up while the other investigators try to shoot Gourmet down from a distance. That wrench's name is Seido Takizawa, and his damn hero complex, swamped in whatever is going on in his damn head enough to foolhardily charge past their careful line of shields and attempt to take Gourmet down before he can escape. Or so Hide presumes, as he blankly watches his teammate dart past him.

Fucking hell. Not one to break a promise, Hide throws his shield down, ignoring Akira's panicked order to stay put, and tails Seido as he readies his quinque cannon. He wonders if any other brave—or stupid—investigators will back them up, but surprise seems to keep everyone pretty much frozen. Seido is never, never this reckless, and neither is Hide, but he isn't going to stand by and watch his friend get torn to pieces. Hide lets his whip unfurl from his briefcase, and hears Amon finally frantically shouting to his team. He can't tell if he's telling them to stand down or jump in, and it doesn't really matter now, because Hide and Seido are close enough to see that shit-eating grin widen the tiniest fraction. They're playing into his hands. Hide knows that they're going to need the backup.

Gourmet's smile is persistent as they near. He's incredibly unbothered, just narrowly avoiding a blast from Seido's quinque by sidestepping casually. "Looks like you've got some fight in you after all. But two on one isn't fair game."

Though he hardly looks it, and though his statue-like composure seems solid, grounded, Gourmet can be fast. Before they even come to a stop, he sends Seido crashing back towards the rest of the team, who have terrifyingly yet to mobilize, with a heavy hit from his kagune. As the ghoul rushes him, Hide snaps his whip into the dagger form and manages to slice straight up through his chest. Gourmet is practically a tank, though, and it doesn't stop the ghoul from barreling into Hide. He's forced to drop his quinque to break his fall, to keep from being forced onto his back, but there's nowhere to go, as he's caged in by the ghoul now heavy on top of him.

"See? It's going to take a lot more than two idiot doves to bring moi down." Hide pants as he realizes that the ghoul was entirely right about this fight being unfair— it was always tilted in the ghoul's favor, and Hide and Seido never stood a chance as unprepared as they were.

Gourmet reeks of blood, as he's drenched in it from slaughtering his rival ghouls. He leans down, forcing Hide to lay back until they're practically nose to nose. He says, like there's some inside joke between them, "let's see if you can get out of this alive, hmm?"

Gourmet raises his hand, spiraling kagune poised to kill, but his trajectory changes when a quinque spear imbeds itself into his shoulder. He misses Hide's heart, but not his body, and the jagged edge tears into his thigh, right above his knee. Hide's vision blurs, and he reaches blindly for his quinque while Gourmet is distracted by the spear. Panic rises in his throat as he is, once again, in the clutches of a ghoul, with no way to defend himself. He forces himself to focus, and his hand finally and desperately closes around the handle of his knife.

As Gourmet tosses the spear away, Hide struggles to sit up, the kagune impaled in his leg sending white hot agony rippling through his whole body. It's fraying his nerves completely, and he's worried he'll go into shock soon, and be at the total mercy of this psychopath. Gourmet's mask grins down at him, while the ghoul himself sneers. His voice is awash with fake pity. Again, there's subtext to his words that Hide can't bring himself to ponder at the moment. "Seems like you can't hold your own, dove. You're only human, after all."

A little pressure has the twist of the kagune digging further into Hide's thigh, with a sickening gush of blood soaking through his slacks, but he grits his teeth, not willing to give the ghoul the satisfaction. He almost gets the feeling that this is something personal, which doesn't make any sense.

Unable to do much else besides force himself to stay conscious, he waits for Akira's quinque to bat Gourmet away, or for Seido to shoot a hole straight through his chest, for Amon to order another spear thrown. Or, more morosely, waits for the ghoul to just rip his heart of of his chest and eat it in front of his squad. What's strange, though, is that the killing blow never comes, as if Gourmet, too, is waiting for something.

He doesn't know if the moment seems to drag because of the blood loss, or his team's inaction, but when he finally hears frantic footsteps and shouting, he figures they've come for him. He lets himself lose some of the tension that's holding his trembling body together, and hopes they reach him before he's rendered unrecognizable by the unforgiving ghoul still on top of him. When his head finally thunks against the hard asphalt below so that he can sort of see behind him, it isn't a projectile or a quinque coming for Gourmet, thought, like he expected—it's a figure barreling towards the both of them at maximum speed, and it sure as hell isnt an Investigator. Hide only has time to register that shock of bright, white hair before he leaps into the air, sailing over Hide, driving his leather boot into the center of Gourmet's chest. The force rips the kagune out of his leg, and Hide does scream this time, partly out of sheer surprise.

Self preservation forces him to move, even in his overwhelming wooziness. He scrabbles backwards, not liking the way his left leg merely drags out a streak of blood in front of him, and somehow manages to sit up, shaking and panting.

Gourmet is now improbably locked in a fearsome battle with none other than Eyepatch.

It's startling, to see him clearly in the light, like he's real, and not a boogeyman lurking in the dark, in alleyways. The sun doesn't make him any less aggressive, or predatory, though, and he pushes Gourmet back without mercy. Hide can see that the blows aren't meant to be lethal, not really, brutal, but restrained at the same time. Gourmet still staggers, blocks and defends futilely until he's unconscious on the ground, beaten into submission. It's over as jarringly as it started, the following silence total and final. Nobody moves.

Hide wants to think that it's purely territorial. He wants to hope that it's nothing more than a spat between two ghouls fighting for dominance. He can't do either of those, because he truly hopes, and somehow, knows, that his soulmate came to defend him. Hopefully no one else notices the ghoul staring down Hide, even if it is brief, before throwing Gourmet over his shoulder and darting off. A small armored team pursues, probably in vain, but Hide doesn't really know who he's rooting for anymore.

Hide feels hands grip under his arms, and someone gingerly picking his legs off the ground. At this point, it's hard to feel any sensations, which should be more concerning to him, he thinks. Mostly, he just feels floaty. While the other Investigators go about more routine cleanup, containment, and evidence collecting, he's taken to a waiting ambulance. He's out before he hits the gurney.

**AN: Tick Tock, now with more angst! **


End file.
